Crumbling Staten Island Expressway ramps could be fixed by Labor Day

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. While the city and state Departments of Transportation are still at odds over federal funding, which is in turn holding up the start of a Staten Island Expressway construction project that would improve several key problem spots, the state has agreed to go ahead with a stopgap fix to address crumbling on- and off-ramps at Slosson Avenue.

City Councilman James Oddo urged state DOT Regional Director Phillip Eng to consider milling and repaving the pothole-ridden ramps now, instead of waiting for the start of the larger construction project next spring, which is currently on hold.

Advance file photoCouncilman James Oddo is happy the ramps will be fixed by the end of the summer.

Though the state owns the highway and the ramps, the city DOT typically performs maintenance like this to keep the roadway in safe condition until the state can arrange for longer-term repair contracts.

The state had sought an agreement with the city to complete the work, Eng said, with the state sharing in the cost of the city's repairs, but the deal has not yet been struck. In order to speed up the needed repairs, the state is coordinating with a contractor to expedite the work, in the hopes of getting the ramps repaired by Labor Day.

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"As any Staten Island driver can attest, the current conditions of these ramps along the SIE are in deplorable condition," Oddo said. "This is a long overdue solution to a problem that has plagued Staten Island motorists for far too long and I commend [the state DOT] for 'just doing it'."

The stalled expressway construction project would include the extension of the bus lane from Slosson to Victory Boulevard, as well as the removal of the unused interchange in Sunnyside, and straightening out and leveling a section between Clove and Slosson, along with widening several overpass bridges and adding a fourth auxiliary lane in spots.